True Blood

[stray]

I don't think the Queen was bad. It's just how she was written. Purposely decadent and wasteful... The minute she actually gave some helpful advice about Maenads, the actress reflected it.

[Velorath]

Wasn't too fond of this episode myself.  I was hoping Tara would end up getting killed somehow.  Also didn't care for the "she's immortal because she thinks she is" shit either.

[stray]

What was Sookie's line? "Tara, you are a fucking idiot."

Yeah, she pretty much needs to die.

[Tale]

Yeah, I was fine with the queen, her actor and her Yahtzee playing.

It's always great TV. But last season they kept the villain a mystery until the end. This season, they're still making great TV but they haven't got the villain reveal, so it's not as good.

[Tarami]

I am now convinced they are making shit up as they go. They have no idea what direction they're supposed to take the show in or even where it's heading currently. The queen's "explanation" of who Maryann is was just proof that they have no rational solution for her. However, it will involve Sookie and her conveniently new-found messianic pew-pew powers.

[Velorath]

I am now convinced they are making shit up as they go.

Maybe they didn't know when they wrote Season 1 what direction they'd be going in Season 2, but this isn't like network TV where episodes are still being written and shot even after the season has started and things get changed on the fly.

[Tarami]

It's not exclusive to network TV though, the same thing happens with movie scripts and novels (hi2u Stephen King!) The writer(s) run out of time without having solved some fundamental issue with the story (why did that character carry that gun we needed for the climax?) so there's no time to go back and fix things already written, everything new just get thrown on the pile of things. Thus it's lacking in foreshadowing and laden with deux ex machinas which in implementation is the same as "making shit up as you go," just without the urgency. If they had some other, better formulated idea of a plotline we'll never know, because it never landed on paper.

[Reg]

Did the Mary Anne stuff happen in the books? I've only read the first two and in those Sookie got her back clawed and there was talk about the maenad wanting tribute from supernatural bar owners but none of the rest of this stuff happened. Perhaps it turns into a bigger thing in one of the later books?

[Tarami]

Maryann in the books bears no practical similarity to the Maryann of the TV-show, atleast not for the first five books or so. She disappears entirely from view after the second book, I think it is.

[Velorath]

It's not exclusive to network TV though, the same thing happens with movie scripts and novels (hi2u Stephen King!) The writer(s) run out of time without having solved some fundamental issue with the story (why did that character carry that gun we needed for the climax?) so there's no time to go back and fix things already written, everything new just get thrown on the pile of things. Thus it's lacking in foreshadowing and laden with deux ex machinas which in implementation is the same as "making shit up as you go," just without the urgency. If they had some other, better formulated idea of a plotline we'll never know, because it never landed on paper.

Seems to me more like a case of bad writing rather than lack of a plan.  They didn't realize that the Texas subplot was a lot better than the Maryann subplot.  They also felt that they needed a story arc that spanned the entire season (actually more than a season since Maryann was introduced last season), and personally I disagree.  I had the same problem with the first season (the serial killer plot) also.  Neither plot needed that many episodes to move forward resulting in a lot of treading water. I had a pretty negative view on Season 1 in fact which you can see many pages back.  I think that's largely because I didn't watch most of the episodes as they aired.  I downloaded them and watched several at a time and it's a lot more noticeable when you watch 3 or 4 hours in a row and the plot has barely moved forward.

So yeah, I think decompressed storytelling and a few bad ideas are the show's biggest problems.  Not so much making things up as they go along.

[DLRiley]

I only watched some of the ending episodes for season 1. I thought the idea of vampires applying for basic human rights to be ridiculous. But it was ok, a tad campy, very slow, but overall ok. So it grew on me as season 2 chugged on and well i'm running out of television to watch so I'm not really disappointed with the over all direction. Maybe because I never thought the show was great in the first placed and I only recently started to swallow the premise of the show.  

[Tarami]

Agreed, (although lack of a plan results in bad writing... semantics!) the heinously slow development has exaggerated the issue. I don't think we'd be having this discussion if Maryann had been given the four episodes or something that the complexity of the plotline asked for. Second half of the season they've been throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, just to wring another five episodes out of the plotline.

If I'm to be honest though, some of my dislike for the show comes from the fact that rabid fans (both online and among my relations) try to divine some greater meaning from every word spoken and gesture made. It's something the fanbase of TB appears to share with the Lost fanbase (another TV-show I can't stand for similar reasons.) I'm all for characters speaking in quasi-riddles (hey, one of the reasons I love Deadwood), but not that kind of inept hinting that means nothing to any of the characters actually in the room.

PS.
Neither did I think True Blood was anywhere close to the best television I've seen, but I used to think that it was decent enough to get 48 minutes a week of my time.

[Sky]

You know why the first season was better?


 

[gryeyes]

I was forced to whack off at least a dozen times in the first season. Maryanne is a huge downer and really doesnt seem to make sense. The two reveals about maryanne made little sense in comparison to what we already knew about her. They should just have her up and leave randomly a few episodes ago, with putting the town back together/Some confrontation in Dallas amongst the vampires being the end game.

[Riggswolfe]

I'm tired of Maryanne but not ready to turn on the show like some of you are. While Tara has never been an enjoyable character I find Jason quite amusing, and actually like him since his return from crazy Bible-land. Jessica is still my favorite character in the show but that may be because she's kind of cute and dangerous at the same time. That, and she keeps teasing me. Come on girl, get naked already!

[Evil Elvis]

Tara was building a nest for a giant egg, with a guy named Eggs 

Next episode's reveal over who laid that goddamn egg might very well be shark-jumping event.  I really, really hope they can pull it off, I just don't see how they can keep this from going crazy train.

[sidereal]

Sam layed it in chicken form.  Jason foreshadowed it.

[Tarami]

[Sky]

The Maryanne plot line laid such an egg that it physically manifested on the show.

[Mrbloodworth]

Wasn't too fond of this episode myself.  I was hoping Tara would end up getting killed somehow.  Also didn't care for the "she's immortal because she thinks she is" shit either.

Most gods only exist because someone believes in them.

[gryeyes]

Daphne laid it after fucking Sam!

[Tarami]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphic_Egg

Ta-da.

[Slayerik]

This is how I know none of us has HBO. You are bad bad pirates.

[Rasix]

Wish I could say I'm a pirate.  But sadly Comcast is taking 20 a month for two shows I like.

Decent finale, but the second half of the show was a bit weak.

[gryeyes]

What a convoluted way to resolve Marryanne.

[stray]

How was it convoluted? They barely dealt with it.. I mean, it seemed like they resolved it in a shorter segment at the beginning of the show. Then the show went off on some long aftermath tangent or something (didn't like how all of it was written). As for how it actually happened, I already saw it coming when Bill wanted Sam around.

[Tebonas]

So Maryanne can't influence Sookie because she is special, but she doesn't have the same problem with Jason who holds out barely longer than Lafayette (and is soundly beaten by the town drunk)?

[Ookii]

So Maryanne can't influence Sookie because she is special, but she doesn't have the same problem with Jason who holds out barely longer than Lafayette (and is soundly beaten by the town drunk)?

Yes, what's the problem?

[Tebonas]

Maryanne said she couldn't influence Sookie due to her supernatural origin. If Jason is her biological brother, Maryanne should have the same problem with him.

[gryeyes]

How was it convoluted? They barely dealt with it..

The entire Maryanne arc,not just the episode,the resolution was exceptionally stupid. So many mid season episodes would have been so much better as a finale. I knew the season would peak with the godric stuff but those last few episodes dragged.

[Ookii]

Maryanne said she couldn't influence Sookie due to her supernatural origin. Her brother has the same supernatural origin, hence he shouldn't be affected as well.

They've never said he was supernatural, and being a work of fiction Sookie could of been born a caterpillar for all we know.

We'll probably find out at some point she was adopted or something.

[Tebonas]

Didn't think they could make them adopted siblings in the series. Maybe they'll go that route.

[gryeyes]

Ookii change your quote its a gigantic reveal.

[Ookii]

Its not been established that Sookies gift is the result of a bloodline.

Ookie change your quote its a gigantic reveal.

What? My name is Ookii (though pronounced Ookie, thanks for that), and that wasn't my quote.  If you changed my quote (which was me just guessing things) to something that is fact, AND CONFIRMING IT, then put your shit in a spoiler tag.

I think you book readers should GTFO with your spoilers anyway.  You read something called the 'Sookie Stackhouse Series'.

[gryeyes]

Its you quoting Tebonas not what you said.He apparently does not know what the fuck a spoiler is since he is posting shit from the books. Sadly I ruined it for myself when I looked at Wikipedia.